EDITORIAL

Lend a hand with the shoreline cleanup

All hands are asked to help with the Island Shoreline Cleanup slated for this Saturday, April 21.

The spring cleaning of our island beaches is a major Jamestown tradition. Held every April since the early 1990s, the Jamestown Conservation Commission’s annual Island Shoreline Cleanup is an important part of our local Earth Day celebration. The event is a simple but effective way that we can make an important difference for our community and our planet.

This is your opportunity to think globally but act locally. This Saturday, volunteers of all ages will gather at 8:30 a.m. at the Jamestown Recreation Center on Conanicus Avenue. Coffee and treats to get the day started will be provided.

Teams of volunteers will then be assigned by organizers to pick up the litter at one of our island’s public shoreline access areas. We have quite a few.

This is a great family event. Bring the kids! Trash collection bags will be provided. Be sure to bring work gloves and wear old clothes or work clothes. Waterproof shoes or boots are recommended. Be advised, you might get dirty.

Each year, volunteers pick up about two tons of litter from our island beaches. There’s a wide assortment of marine-related flotsam and jetsam. There’s even more refuse that is just plain trash – garbage that people should have been sensible enough to not leave behind in the first place.

All the trash is hauled to East Ferry by volunteers with pickup trucks. Our friends from Island Rubbish have again donated a 20-yard dumpster (as they have done every year) to haul away the garbage.

The work wraps up about noonish. Everyone returns to the recreation center where they will be treated to a well-deserved lunch served by the Conanicut Island Land Trust.

Be green and volunteer a few hours of your time this Saturday morning. It’s a great feeling to see all those clean beaches at the end of the day. We’ll see you there.